


Respite

by SilverBird13



Category: Herbert West - Reanimator - H. P. Lovecraft, Re-Animator (1985)
Genre: Basically a fluffy plane ride, Dan is a sad puppy, Herbert tries, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-12
Updated: 2015-07-12
Packaged: 2018-04-08 22:36:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4323405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverBird13/pseuds/SilverBird13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Daniel Cain has seen things most would consider impossible, immoral, and frightening beyond all human measure.  He has lost any semblance of normality in his life, watching it trickle away with each night spent on Herbert’s endeavors and then finally seeing it scream out it’s swan song as he clung desperately to it even despite his growing doubts.  </p><p>And yet, slinging his smaller duffel bag into the space above their seats with shaking hands, Dan thinks that a goddamn airplane may very well be the thing that sends him to his grave."</p><p>Or, Dan is a big baby on the trip to Peru.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Respite

Daniel Cain has seen things most would consider impossible, immoral, and frightening beyond all human measure. He has lost any semblance of normality in his life, watching it trickle away with each night spent on Herbert’s endeavors and then finally seeing it scream out it’s swan song as he clung desperately to it even despite his growing doubts. And yet, slinging his smaller duffel bag into the space above their seats with shaking hands, Dan thinks that a goddamn airplane may very well be the thing that sends him to his grave.

Beside him, Herbert twists his lips in disdain, obviously dreading the flight as much as Dan, though certainly for different reasons. While the massacre ( _Meg, Meg, don’t think about Meg_ ) had left Dan sluggish and dazed, it seemed to have given Herbert even more of his disturbing, brilliant drive. Within weeks, he had signed forms in various languages, packed and hidden and ordered God knows what, and even made Dan tea after he had returned, blubbering and raw, from Meg’s funeral. Eventually, Herbert had dragged Dan out of his inertia by informing him that they would be traveling to Peru as volunteer medics, and Dan assented without a second thought. Herbert was the last shred of anything resembling stability, Dan reasoned later. _Certainly_ , he thought moments before he began frantically reciting childhood lessons, he wasn’t choosing Herbert over Meg even now, no, _Lincoln, Johnson, Grant…_

Dan is jolted from his thoughts as he hears the engine roar to life, the stewardess drone about safety to the four other passengers yawning in the rows behind them.

Herbert looks up from a list he’s been making, adjusts his glasses. “We’ll be taking off soon. You’ll want to strap in.”

Dan takes his seat beside Herbert, trying not to let his teeth chatter as he glances down at the bright wing. He laughs nervously. “Not natural…up so high, you know…”

Herbert, comforting as ever, raises his eyebrows and snorts in response, not bothering to look up from his notes. Dan whines, a high-pitched dog's whine, the passing stewardess giving him an odd look as she pushes her cart by, not stopping to offer them peanuts. Herbert finally looks up, and Dan gives him a watery, tight smile.  Herbert cooly quirks his lips in response, watching Dan rub his eyes, pressing the pads of his fingers against them for a moment to block his tears.

“I should think you’d be used to supposedly unnatural phenomena by now.”

Dan tries to focus on Herbert’s face as the plane gains altitude.  Calm washes over him as he lets his eyes trace Herbert's jaw, the confident snub of his nose.

“Never flown before.”

Herbert gives a little smile.  Dan counts six teeth. “It’s easier at night. You won’t experience vertigo if you can’t see anything discernible out the window.” The thought that _this_ is why Herbert chose a 2AM flight causes a blush to rise from his pallor, and Herbert frowns.

“If you begin experiencing airsickness, I have some acetaminophen capsules in my carry-on. Let me know. I don’t want you losing any fluids when they’re still clean and easily accessible.” Dan nods, trying not to let his lip quiver as he searches Herbert's cheeks for freckles.

“Try and sleep, Dan.  You’ll wake up in whatever stopover we get stuck in and be one step closer to saving dying soldiers. I’m sure you’ll like that-helping people.”

“Helping you.” Dan blurts out, his tongue loosened by fading adrenaline. Herbert looks up and smiles, gives him a fleeting touch on the knee as if to taunt Dan with his knowledge of his true motivations.

“Yes, helping me.”


End file.
